


sentimental you and faithful me

by nevernevergirl



Series: woke up in a car [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-02
Updated: 2013-12-02
Packaged: 2018-01-03 06:40:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1067270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevernevergirl/pseuds/nevernevergirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma's never spent her birthday with anyone before.  Tallahassee era missing scene.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sentimental you and faithful me

**Author's Note:**

> I blame this on the look on Emma's face when Neal and Rumplestislkin were hugging-- no way did those two not talk about their pasts/longing to have a family. (As a sidenote, I'm not even going to pretend I understand the timeline on this show, so I made one up that probably doesn't fit at all, admittedly!)

Emma turned 17 five days after she stole the yellow bug, four days after she realized she was going to have to share it, and three days after she decided she didn't mind that much.

She couldn't ever really remember celebrating her birthday, not the way the other kids at school would talk about. Pizza parties in the backyard, big cakes with too much icing, a pile of presents. There was a year or two when she was younger when she was lucky enough to be with a family that managed to scrounge up a treat, but mostly she got her own cupcake or brownie or cookie--just something to stick a candle in and make a wish. 

She wasn't sure why she bothered-- what's the point in celebrating you exist if you're doing it by yourself? But she'd done it again anyway, because something in her heart had tugged and made her stomach ache with the want she could usually pretend she didn't have.

She'd snuck out to the bakery and raided their display case during morning rush, while Neal was still asleep in the passenger's seat. She'd found a bench and lit her candle with lighter she'd fished out of Neal's pocket, closed her eyes and wished--

"Hey," she jolted at the rough, sleep-worn voice behind her. "There you are. Woke up to the back seat empty and thought I was going it alone again."

He frowned as he slid in next to her--like not having to share a cramped Bug was a bad thing. 

"You're stuck with me," she shrugged, forcing a small smile. "Just woke up early and wanted to get some air."

"Good," he grinned, the wide kind that made the skin around his eyes crinkle in little folds. 

She didn't understand Neal Cassidy. 

"Nice cupcake," he nodded. "Wanna share?"

"No," she said sharply, glaring a little. "Bakery's still busy, get your own."

He laughed a little, shaking his head. "I'd be an ass if I made you share your on your birthday, anyway."

"How did you know it's my birthday?" she frowned.

"Lucky guess," he shrugged. "And you lit a candle. How old are you, anyway?"

"You've seen my ID."

"That's the shoddiest fake I've seen since my own when I was 16," he grinned for a second before furrowing his brow. "Wait, are you 16?"

"No," she said, defensively, stubbornly. "I'm 17. How old are  _you_?"

"207," he smirked. She rolled her eyes, reaching out and smacking his arm lightly. "Well, my  _legit_  ID says I'm 23. My birthday's in March," he added, like an afterthought.

"I hope you're not expecting me to get you anything."

"Wouldn't dream of asking," he grinned. "Hey. Happy birthday."

She grinned a little, almost shyly. "Thanks," she said, quietly. She sighed, shaking her head. "I don't even know if it's my actual birthday."

He watched her, silently--letting her decide if she wanted to go on. The weird thing was, she sort of  _did_.

"I was found by the side of the freeway when I was baby," she said, evenly, staring ahead blankly. "They guessed I was probably a few hours old, so they put October 22 on my birth certificate."

Neal nodded, silently, holding out his hand almost hesitantly. She bit her lip and took it. 

"I was in a baby blanket that had Emma sewn on it, so they knew what name to put, but nobody ever showed up to fill in the rest of the blanks," she turned to him, shooting him a small, sad smile. "Pretty fucked up, right? They could sew my name into a blanket, but they couldn't drive to the hospital to drop me off?"

"Pretty fucked up," he nodded, squeezing her hand. "Some people don't deserve kids," he muttered, darkly.

"Kids still deserve parents," she said, quietly. He stared at her for a long moment, nodding a little. 

"My dad left," he said, quietly. "When I was 14. We were in a...pretty bad situation, and I thought if I could just get us away from everything tempting him, he'd be okay again. And he didn't want to. He chose all his crap instead."

She bit her lip. "What about your mom?

"Ran off with some guy she met in a bar when I was a kid," he shrugged. "Died later, her boyfriend said my dad killed her."

"Christ, Neal."

"Yeah," he shook his head. "Stayed with her boyfriend for awhile, until I realized he just wanted a way to get back at my dad. Point is," he sighed. "I was on my own after that, and things got better when I wasn't dealing with their shit. But it still sucked, you know?"

"Being on your own," she said, quietly. He nodded.

"They didn't deserve us," he said, squeezing her hand. "Doesn't mean we don't deserve what they should have given us."

Emma nodded a little, breaking off a bit of her cupcake and handing it to him. "I'll steal you your own in March," she mumbled.

"Thanks," he grinned. "C'mon, let's go to iHop, I'll buy you birthday pancakes."

"With what money?" she raised her eyebrows.

"...I'll cover your back when we ditch the bill?"

"You're on," she grinned, holding his hand tightly. 


End file.
